Stalking and Harassment

Harassment is not specifically defined under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 but is commonly understood to be repeated behaviour which is unreasonable and causes the victim alarm or distress.

Harassment might include such things as:

anti-social behaviour

bullying at school or in the workplace

cyber stalking on the internet

sending abusive text messages

sending unwanted gifts

What is stalking?

Again, this is not specifically defined in law but is commonly understood to be an aggravated form of harassment where the perpetrator persists with inappropriate and unwanted attention towards the victim such as following them, watching or spying on them, or forcing contact through any means, such as social media.

Stalking is an aggravated form of harassment and includes things like:

persistently following someone

repeatedly going uninvited to their home

monitoring someone’s use of the internet, email or other form of electronic communication

loitering somewhere frequented by the person

interfering with their property

watching or spying on someone

identity theft

What is cyberstalking?

Cyberstalking is the term commonly used to describe harassment or stalking that is carried out using electronic devices communications to harass or frighten someone, for example by sending threatening emails.